Hi all, my husband and I moved to the city last year, but we both grew up on the east coast. We want to take a long weekend getaway close to the city (will rent a car and drive somewhere), but we have no idea where to go! It would be lovely to find a smallish town with cool local shops and some restaurants with good vegan options. We're both artsy, so any type of artist community would be cool. Any suggestions?

Recently, I've done weekends in Boston and Philly, which I guess are more like small cities than small towns, but the historical parts still feel cute and quaint and they obviously have great art scenes.

New Hope, PA is great. It is a very artsy little town along the Delaware River, and Spring and Vine is a fantastic vegan restaurant.

Montauk is nice too if you like the shore. I can't remember the place I ate there, but it was a really yummy little cafe type place - I think it was either Naturally Good Food and Cafe or Joni's. And this article gives some other options I haven't tried: http://www.danshamptons.com/content/dan ... 08/35.html

_________________I'm not asking for utopian dreams...just a little peace in this world. That's a logical thing. - Deee-Lite

Thanks for the suggestions SSD and Aubade! I think we might check out Philly - I found a nice hotel in Rittenhouse Square and Yelp shows there are lots of vegan options nearby. I totally want to check out Montauk, but think I'll wait till it's a wee bit warmer. :-)

Thanks for the suggestions SSD and Aubade! I think we might check out Philly - I found a nice hotel in Rittenhouse Square and Yelp shows there are lots of vegan options nearby. I totally want to check out Montauk, but think I'll wait till it's a wee bit warmer. :-)

Oh, I thought you were asking in general and not necessarily right away. Whoops, yeah, Montauk would be a bit chilly now! haha

I'm actually going to Philly this weekend to check out the Flower Show.

Hopefully we'll have time to go to Horizons too. I've heard it is great!

_________________I'm not asking for utopian dreams...just a little peace in this world. That's a logical thing. - Deee-Lite

ooh Aubade, do you have recs on places to stay in Montauk (me, toddler and papa)? I know some places may not open til like Memorial Day but I think we're gonna go in April 'cause we don't mind the cold, just wanna hike and stuff.

When I went we camped at Hither Hills. It is a beautiful campsite, right on - and I mean like right on! - the ocean. The sites are just behind the dunes, so you can't see the ocean from your tent but could walk to it in about a minute. Just yesterday I looked to make reservations but all the summer weekends are already booked up. You'd probably be good in April though, if you didn't mind camping in the cold. (probably not so much with a toddler though!)

_________________I'm not asking for utopian dreams...just a little peace in this world. That's a logical thing. - Deee-Lite

I can only say that two places I know of like that would be Tarrytown with nearby Sleepy Hollow. Tarrytown is super cute and has a smalltown feel with small shops and artsy places on the main streets. If you go a bit further, you hit Sleepy Hollow, which has an interesting history, and where you can visit that famous writer's house ;). Next, I'd have to say Nyack. Again, small cute shops, quaint feel, very scenic, and near the water. Not far from the city, either, so it'd be nice for a day trip.

Whoa - if you do end up in Philly, anywhere near Reading Market - get the Philly Steak Sandwich and/or Beanball Sub from Basic Four Vegetarian. The sweet potato pie is out of this world too! We ate there after the flower show and I must have said "this is sooo good" like 500 times. Granted, I was super hungry but it really was delicious! http://www.readingterminalmarket.org/merchants/view/50

Also just fyi - Horizons is closed on Sundays. I didn't realize it until the last minute, which was a bummer but at least the cheesesteak made up for it.

_________________I'm not asking for utopian dreams...just a little peace in this world. That's a logical thing. - Deee-Lite